


the power of three

by imstephtacular



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Ficlet, Fluff, Fluffy, M/M, OT3, OT3 friendship, OT5, One Shot, Past Eleanor Calder/Louis Tomlinson, Zilo - Freeform, angsty, ziam, zilo drabble, zilo friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-18
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-25 13:18:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1650005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imstephtacular/pseuds/imstephtacular
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis in a good mood is unicorns and fields of daisies and cheeky grins and warm beanies.<br/>Louis in a bad mood is slowly drowning and catching on fire at the same time. </p>
<p>Or, the one where Louis is having a B A D day and doesn't want anyone to even try to make him feel better</p>
            </blockquote>





	the power of three

**Author's Note:**

  * For [drowninginmysleep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/drowninginmysleep/gifts).



> I was stuck writing a scene for another fic so I decided to write some Zilo action on the side and I thought "Hm sad louis needing cheering up could be fun" so here's this
> 
> (and yes the title is an allusion to the doctor who episode of the same title)

Louis on a good day is sunshine.   
Louis on a good day is newborn kittens.  
Louis on a good day is warm blankets.

Louis on a bad day is cold coffee, rain-soaked blue jeans, and scraping silverware.

 

 

It hasn’t been a particularly bad show. Liam fumbles a couple lyrics, Harry and Niall collide in an effort to out-air-guitar each other, Zayn’s voice cracks on his high note in “You and I.” Overall, things go swimmingly, and the fans go wild as with any other night. But Louis comes offstage in such a mood that everyone backstage clears a path to the bus for him. 

He storms straight to his bunk, swishes the curtains closed, and shouts “nobody touch me,” a warning for everyone in a five-mile radius. 

The other lads trail behind him, at a safe distance, and approach the bus to echoes of Louis’ request. Stopping at the steps and clustering together, Harry speaks first. “Alright, if I don’t know what’s up Lou’s butt,” Harry blushes, “okay, that didn’t…anyways, ignore…if I don’t know what’s ‘a matter with him…”

“‘ve no idea either,” Niall chimes in, brow furrowing. “Liam? Zayn?”

Liam shrugs, “Beats me, he seemed fine earlier, yeh?” Liam turns to Zayn who also shrugs. “Someone should go check on him, though, right?” Liam offers, eyes worried and soft.

“Not it!” Niall pulls away, breaking the circle, hands raised in surrender. “R’member the last time Louis was this cross?” All four of them frown, remembering simultaneously and vividly how cranky and feisty and flat out mean Louis was after some idiot fan called Eleanor a dick-whipped fame-whore princess. They groan in unison. “I know thet was ages ago, but I’m not touchin’ this one.”

“I’m with Nialler on this one, gents,” Harry bows solemnly. Liam and Zayn exchange looks, silently agreeing to handle Louis together. They nod towards Niall and Harry, who wish them good luck, and, taking a deep breath together, link their arms and march into the bus. 

 

 

“I thought I made it clear that I wanted no visitors,” Louis roars from his bunk. “That includes even my favorites!” His voice doesn’t soften with the last bit and Liam and Zayn freeze, clutching each other tighter, mildly terrified of Louis at this point. Liam sighs loudly, hoping it will break the ice, but Louis sighs louder, challenging, and flings his curtain open to glare at them. “Don’t even think about it,” he warns, the daggers in his eyes targeting Zayn and Liam right in the chest. They feel the weigh of his words and wince, just slightly, at the message. 

The longer Louis stares at them, the harder Liam and Zayn cling to each other, grips shifting from their linked elbows to clasped fingers under Louis’ gaze. After an uncomfortable stretch of silence, Zayn clears his throat, squeezing Liam’s hand for courage, and exhales. “Louis,” he tries, taking a tiny step towards the bunk.

“What. Did. I. Say!” Louis shrieks, fists balled at his sides, shaking. 

“I heard you,” Zayn answers, swallowing, staying calm and gaining nerve with each pulse of Liam’s fingers. “I just didn’t care to follow your…instructions,” Zayn manages, hand quivering in Liam’s grip. 

“Wrong move, Malik,” Louis snaps, his glare frigid. 

“We…we just want to know what’s going on, Lou,” Liam steps up to join Zayn, their knuckles both turning a ghastly shade of white, his voice wobbly. Louis responds with silent seething, the air between them tense and deafeningly loud despite their lack of words. 

Finally Louis lets his shoulders drop, just barely, and lets out a long, low breath. He flicks his head in the direction of the lounge and climbs out of his bunk, silently leading the other two to the couches. They follow hesitantly, hands still linked and desperately clinging. Louis sits down on the edge of the couch, primly, and brings his hands to his temples, massaging roughly. 

“Did you see the way that little twit,” Louis begins, fuming, his story loud and chaotic.

Liam and Zayn exchange looks again, knitting their eyebrows together.

“Lou…” Zayn starts gently, reaching out to lay a hand softly on Louis’ shoulder. Louis shakes it off violently. 

“Don’t you Lou me,” he snaps. Zayn flinches, stung, and turns to Liam for support. “Let me finish,” he snaps again, then adds, “please.” Liam and Zayn nod for him to continue, both biting their lips. 

“In the front row, at the end of the show, little blondie…” Louis continues, his words running into each other, his eyes mad. “Personal space is a thing, y’know!” he forges on, hands flailing wildly, dangerously close to Liam and Zayn’s confused faces. 

“Louis, you’re not making sense,” Liam tries, carefully. 

Louis huffs, hands still waving, displeased at being cut off. “Fine, right,” he mumbles. “Apparently I’m the only one that noticed the grabby gremlin at the edge of the stage, yeah?” Liam and Zayn trade another signature LiamAndZayn glance and shake their heads. Louis exhales a grand sigh, rubbing at his temples again. “Right. So. During ‘Up All Night’ some cheeky little bird thought it a brilliant idea to paw at my arse and didn’t that little shit get a handful!”

Liam’s and Zayn’s mouths pop open in unison, laughs caught in their chests, squeezing each other’s hands to collect themselves. Zayn clears his throat first, Liam echoing a second later. “Must’ve missed it, mate,” Zayn mumbles, stifling a snicker. 

Louis’ frosty glare returns, aimed at Zayn, and Liam jumps up to blockade an inevitable showdown. “Ay ay, mates, babes,” Liam stutters, pressing his palms against Zayn’s and Louis’ chests to keep them apart. “We just must not have seen, Lou, ’s’all,” Liam explains. “That song was crazy, all of us running about…” Liam trails off, hoping Louis will soften at the admittance.

Louis rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” he moans. “It was just so fucking rude, I just…” Louis finally softens, sighing into his hands. “I mean, I know my arse is practically planetary, but…” he cracks the first hint of a smile all evening. 

Liam and Zayn exhale in unison and break into matching grins, reaching out to pinch and tug at every one of Louis’ curves. “Very rude, very rude indeed,” Zayn murmurs, cupping Louis’ ass with one hand, grinding up on Louis’ thigh, his other pulling Liam into Louis’ body, the three of them in a handsy huddle. Louis bursts into giggles and blushes and Liam brushes his hand across Louis’ hip.

“Nobody touches our Lou,” Liam breathes against Louis’ neck. “Nobody but us, right Zayn?”

“Right,” Zayn whispers, smacking Louis’ ass and pulling the three of them closer, his breath hot on Louis’ collarbone, sending shivers through each of them. 

“These curves are dangerous,” Liam mumbles into Louis’ hair, smirking, running his hands up and down Louis’ side, lifting his shirt and tickling his skin, creating goosebumps that Louis can’t hold back. Louis lets out a whimper and his knees buckle, the three of them tumbling, tangled, backwards onto the couch, laughing. 

The tension dissolves into sloppy shared kisses and groping touches and muttered mentions of Louis’ tempting curves and majestic ass. The three are too wrapped up, literally, in each other to notice when Harry and Niall finally risk entering the bus. “Shoulda knocked, I tol’ yeh,” Niall chuckles, nudging Harry’s shoulder. 

“Oi, I deal with this donut every day and I never get any of that,” Harry pouts. Louis’ ear perks up and he shoves Liam and Zayn off him playfully. 

“This party is invite only,” Louis quips, wiggling his ass and settling himself deeper into the cushions. He wraps his arms possessively around Liam and Zayn and they both fawn over him like a porn star. Harry and Niall share a look and shout “party crashers!” in unison, charging at the couch, dog-piling on top of the threesome. Louis kicks at the intruders, shouting “you snots weren’t invited!” but all resolve is lost when a hand— whose hand, nobody knows— grabs his ass again and he’s rolling and flushed and laughing and is Louis again.


End file.
